Midwest Values PAC
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Midwest Values PAC (MVP) is a political action committee, or PAC, that was founded by political satirist, best selling author, and radio host Al Franken in the fall of 2005.
Franken has successfully used his national reputation to draw in donations from thousands of individuals, including a number of celebrities such as Barbra Streisand, Nora Ephron, Larry David and Jimmy Smits. After less than one year of operation, MVP raised nearly $1,000,000.
MVP’s stated goal is "to provide financial and organizational support to progressive candidates, activists, and causes," and is is centered around the values Franken learned growing up in Minnesota.
Through MVP Franken has contributed to national Democratic Party organizations, Minnesota U.S. Senate candidate Amy Klobuchar, and U.S. House candidates Coleen Rowley, Tim Walz, and Patty Wetterling.
Franken, a Democrat, is running in 2008 for the US Senate seat currently held by Republican Norm Coleman. Coleman was elected to the seat in 2002 after Democrat Paul Wellstone died in a plane crash on October 25th of that year. Franken has said that Wellstone was one of his political heroes, and Franken has frequently criticized Coleman.
MVP’s short-term goal was to elect what it terms progressive Democrats, with a particular emphasis on retaking one or both of the houses of Congress in the 2006 mid-term election. MVP’s broader mission may be to serve as a platform for Franken to demonstrate his fundraising prowess and to build goodwill and strengthen his ties to Democratic power brokers; doing so could help set the stage for a Franken campaign in 2008.
